Lightsabers, Mouse Kisses and a Man in a Lucky Shirt! A January 2010 TR

Northern Disney Girl · Feb 8, 2010

Lightsabers, Mouse Kisses and a Man in a Lucky Shirt!
A January 2010 TR

Hello and Welcome! :welcome:

Thanks for coming! :thumbsup2

We hope that you can stick around to join us as we recount our adventures on our second Family trip to Walt Disney World. popcorn::

In case you missed it here is the link for our PTR it might help to fill in a few blanks!

OUR 2010 PTR

Well, shall we get to it? :goodvibes

Everybody have their seatbelts fastened? Pull the yellow strap to double check! :car:

You are in for one amazing magical ride! HERE WE GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

:wizard:

Cast of Characters (aka My Family)

ME (Kimberly) I also answer to Kim, Mama or Honey depending on who is doing the calling! I am my kids Mom, a Disney planner extraordinaire (according to Ken) a part time (just recently) child care provider and lover of good books and a great Pinot Grigio!
This was my 5th trip to THE WORLD!!!

DH (Ken) a busy husband of one, father of two, worker at several. He is a director, actor, geek, gamer, programmer and writer. In love with his wife, life, family,and friends. Likes hot coffee anytime and neat scotch when appropriate. His favouirte ride is Expedition Everest because He likes laughing at all the scared people! This was his 2nd trip to THE WORLD!!!

DD9 (Emily) Who is still actually 8 but close enough to 9 that it doesn't really matter! A beautiful girl inside and out. The best big sister I have ever met. Loves reading, drawing, playing piano, Lego and playing dress up with her sister. Is in the 3rd grade in school and Loves Big Thunder Mountain! This was her 2nd trip to THE WORLD!!!

DD6 (Natalie) My little Monkey! The sweetest face covers a mind filled with mischief! My little helper! Loves playing with dolls, stuffed animals, baking with mommy and beating her Dad at computer games! She could ride Dumbo or Triceratops Spin all day if we let her! This was her 2nd trip to THE WORLD!!!

The Where and the When

We were at Port Orleans French Quarter from January 25th - February 1st.

Now on with the show............

up next: The Day before Disney!!!

Northern Disney Girl · Feb 8, 2010

Dancegrl624 · Feb 8, 2010

Oh my goodness..am I actually the 1st one to post?! No way!!! I'm so excited to hear all about your trip!

Northern Disney Girl · Feb 8, 2010

YAY MEGHAN!!!!! YOU ARE FIRST!!!!!! THANKS FOR BEING HERE!!!! :thumbsup2

mickey'sbff · Feb 8, 2010

not first, but 2nd! not too bad..... can't wait to hear about your trip :thumbsup2

Northern Disney Girl · Feb 8, 2010

Chapter 1: The beginning OR The Day before Disney!

Well, actually it all starts the night before the day before Disney with the loading of the luggage into the Van! We would be leaving quite early the next morning and the weather was actually quite warm that night so Ken decided to load the van before heading to bed instead of getting up even earlier! Smart Man!! Here is all our luggage waiting to be loaded into our red 1998 Pontiac Van A Montana. Which, appropriately, has been dubbed Hannah! Yes Folks, that is correct! Our vehicle is Hannah, The Montana!

As Ken was loading the stuff into the van, I was getting the girls ready for bed! Or trying to would be a better phrase! They were so super duper excited to be going on our trip that they were not easily put to bed that night! Totally NOT unexpected! I figured that I might even have a bit of a problem falling asleep!

Well, we did sleep! Quite well, actually! I woke up at about 5:30am, about 45 mins before I needed to and did a bit of a panic! At the last minute I suddenly realized that would be without yogurt for a week. NOT acceptable! So I quickly booted up Ken's laptop, found the website for Garden Grocer and placed an order for yogurt, bottled water and a few other essentials.

Just as I was finished doing that Ken woke up and headed for the shower. When he was done, I jumped in and when we were both squeaky clean and dressed I went up and woke the girls! They very eagerly got up and dressed themselves in their Travelling clothes! We scurried about doing last minute things and were in the van pulling out of the driveway at 7:03am EST!

We had to drop off some mail to a neighbours house that had been dropped at ours by accident. We also needed to get some Coffee and I needed to have me some yogurt so we first made a quick stop at Timmy's and then hit our nearest grocery store! Amazingly enough we were on the highway by 720am!

The weather was a bit foggy and the roads were a bit slushy as it had been quite warm the previous day. Ken had to drive a bit slower so we took a bit longer in getting to the US border. We arrived there at about 8:10am EST. We produced our passports and were asked all the usual questions. No problems and we were waved through with a hearty Enjoy your Vacation! NICE!!! We stopped to fill up on gas and use the washrooms and were back on the road by 8:30am (7:30CST)

The weather was still quite foggy but not as slushy or slippery on the U.S. Side. We did however get stuck for a bit behind a slow moving salt truck. A little while later, the weather changed again and it began to rain! After that, it turned to ice pellets and then a light snow! By the time we were half way to Duluth, it was a full fledged snowstorm!

No worries though! We did this drive last year in a snowstorm! So, we turned uo the tunes and rocked out to some of our favourite songs! Some of the songs on ur Travelling PlayList are Grace Kelly by Mika, Dancing Queen by Abba, Crazy Frog, and a host of others! Fun songs to keep us awake and alert! Good thing too cause Ken had to brake for some deer a few times!

Ken and I sipped at our coffee and the girls did their thing in the back seat! Ken and I had a good laugh together when one of our favourite Travel songs came on! We are HUGE Arrested Development fans! We LOVE the character G.O.B. Played by Will Arnet! He is hilarious!!! So when The Final Countdown by Europe came on we just about peed ourselves laughing while quoting G.O.B sayings from the show!!! For any of you who aren't familiar with the show WATCH IT!!!!! It is SO FUNNY!!!!

We continued on, Ken driving, the girls playing so very nicely in the back and me alternately updating my Trip Journal and doing Sudoku puzzles! The weather became worse and we actually saw a couple of vehicles in ditches! SCARY!!

We kept on chugging along and finally made it to Duluth and our lunch break! We pulled into the parking lot of Wendy's just as they were opening the restaurant! Just like last year! Do we have great timing or what!? It was exactly 10:30am CST!!

We piled into the restaurant and ordered our food. The girls both had chicken nuggets, fries and lemonades. I had the Mandarin Chicken Salad and some water and Ken got some burgers! We ate our food, used the washrooms and then scooted across the road to get some coffee from one of Minnesota's finest coffee spots Dunn Bros. Coffee!!! very yummy! We were back on the highway to Minneapolis at 11:11am!

Continued in next post.........

Northern Disney Girl · Feb 8, 2010

CHAPTER 1, Part 2.....

Having completed the larger portion of our road trip the last part seemed to go rather quickly. The girls played with their toys, listened to music and the Magic Tree House Stoy CD Nat got at Wendy's, and then NAPPED!!! I updated my journal, played Sudoku and was kept amused by the interesting Billboards along the highway.

The weather had let up and the traffic was easy going through the city of St. Paul. We found our easily thanks to the great directions I had and we pulled into the parking lot of The Fairfield Inn at exactly 1:55pm CST!!! We breathed a collective sigh of relief that we had made it safe and sound. Ken and Emily stayed in the van to collect all the strewn garbage while Nat and I headed into the hotel lobby to do our check-in!

Check in went smoothly. The desk clerk was Michael and he was quick, efficient and very friendly! He answered all my questions and we were checked in and ready to go in less than 5 minutes! Nat and I headed back to the van and we pulled around to the back side of the hotel to where the Park n Fly spaces were located. Ken found a spot right away and then we each grabbed a bag and headed in to find our room!

I called my parents to let them know that we were there safely. The ghirls took off their shoes and hopped up on the bed and watched TV for a bit! (We have a TV but don't have cable or anything so TV is a big treat for them!) I then called Sheree (MNDisneyGirl) to let her know that we had arrived and to check on the status of our meet! Many of you already know that her girls were sick that day! She said that she would come to meet us on her own anyway! I was so excited to finally meet up with one of my Disser Pals!

We brought in all the luggage from the van and got organized for the evening. When we were ready we caught the 3pm shuttle over to the Mall of America! Of course we went right to the Disney Store! I needed to turn some of our cash into Gift Cards and the girls had some money they wanted to spend. Em bought a really cool TinkerBell ball and Natalie bought herself a rather large WALL-E plush!

By this time it was getting close to our meeting time with Sheree so we headed in the direction of the LEGO store! My girls were itchin to create some fast movin' cars and check out the Lego Statues! We arrived exactly on time and who did I find waiting there for us? SHEREE!!!!! YAY!!! The girls gave her the gifts they had brought for Paige and Sarah and hugged her like they had known her for a lifetime already! SO sweet!

We had a lovely time chatting and talking about just about everything under the sun! If her girls hadn't of been sick, I'll bet we could have chatted all day! Such a lovely lady she is! Alas her girls were quite under the weather and she needed to get home to be with them so we reluctantly parted ways with a promise to meet again on our return trip!

The girls were pert near desperate to find a washroom at this point so we scouted one out and then went to look at a map to see where we wanted to eat some dinner! Before Ken or I could get a word in edgewise, the girls had unanimously decided where we should eat! Can you guess what they chose?

RAINFOREST CAFE!!!

As we walked into the gift shop area, the girls spotted the Frog out for a meet n greet and dashed over to say hello and a have their photos taken! After that we were seated rather quickly and began to peruse the menu to decide on what we should eat!

I had a very yummy Turkey Wrap...so HUGE, but SO GOOD, I am almost embarrassed to admit that I ate the Whole Thing!!!

Ken had the Calypso Salad which we were told was a NEW item on the menu! He declared it to be THE BEST salad he had EVER eaten and only shared a few bites!

Emily had the Mini Rascal burgers and Nat had the Mini Hotdogs! They both enjoyed their meals and finished just about eveything on their plates! I think maybe Ken and I had a few of their fries!

We decided to skip dessert because we knew we would eating A LOT of dessert in the week to come! We were finished at 5:30pm and had a bit of a browse through the humungus gift shop!

The mall was open until 7 that night so we decided to take advantage of the time that we had to explore a few shops. We hit The Barbie Store, The American Girl store, Bath & Body works and Emily even got to try out a Magic wand at MagicQuest! She just recently finished reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy with Ken so she is ALL about Wizards and Elfs and Dwarfs and such right now!

After all our exploring it was just about 7pm so we headed out to catch our shuttle and head back to the hotel! When we got back the girls had their showers and put on their jammies and were in bed by 8:30pm! Ken and I each took turns going to the business centre to use the computer to check our email and I posted on Shawna's (DisneyMommy3) TR that we had arrived in Minneapolis safely.

When I got back to the room, Em was having a bit of a hard time falling asleep so I got ready for bed and snuggled with her for a bit. I ended up falling asleep too and didn't wake until our alarms went off the next morning!

Up next: Hooray, Hooray, it's Disney Day!

Firestarter · Feb 8, 2010

Northern Disney Girl said:
Chapter 1: The beginning OR The Day before Disney!

Well, actually it all starts the night before the day before Disney with the loading of the luggage into the Van! We would be leaving quite early the next morning and the weather was actually quite warm that night so Ken decided to load the van before heading to bed instead of getting up even earlier! Smart Man!!

There it is in print folks. Smart Man. That will be handy the next time I confuse her body wash for toilet cleanser.

Here is all our luggage waiting to be loaded into our red 1998 Pontiac Van A Montana. Which, appropriately, has been dubbed Hannah! Yes Folks, that is correct! Our vehicle is Hannah, The Montana!

Can we get a Prius now and call it Billy Ray?

As Ken was loading the stuff into the van, I was getting the girls ready for bed! Or trying to would be a better phrase! They were so super duper excited to be going on our trip that they were not easily put to bed that night! Totally NOT unexpected! I figured that I might even have a bit of a problem falling asleep!

A visit from the ether bunny would cure all that.

Well, we did sleep! Quite well, actually! I woke up at about 5:30am, about 45 mins before I needed to and did a bit of a panic! At the last minute I suddenly realized that would be without yogurt for a week. NOT acceptable! So I quickly booted up Ken's laptop, found the website for Garden Grocer and placed an order for yogurt, bottled water and a few other essentials.

Apparently single malt scotch isn't on someone's essential list, but apples are.

Just as I was finished doing that Ken woke up and headed for the shower. When he was done, I jumped in and when we were both squeaky clean and dressed I went up and woke the girls!

Separate showers. By done she means out and dressed. This is a family trip report.

They very eagerly got up and dressed themselves in their Travelling clothes! We scurried about doing last minute things and were in the van pulling out of the driveway at 7:03am EST!

My muttering and pushing and pestering started at 6:50. I sound like Rain Man curling. Hurry hard. Only 357 seconds left. Hard. Hurrry. Fast. Right out. 332 seconds to go....

We had to drop off some mail to a neighbours house that had been dropped at ours by accident. We also needed to get some Coffee and I needed to have me some yogurt so we first made a quick stop at Timmy's and then hit our nearest grocery store! Amazingly enough we were on the highway by 720am!
Timmy's is short for Tim Hortons. Despite the similarity in the name we have no share or stake thereof.

Tim Hortons is a franchise that seems to define Canadians. We love our coffee, and it has to be Timmys. A comparison to Krispy Kreme donuts would be fair, except that it takes longer for the coffee to inspire health problems.

The weather was a bit foggy and the roads were a bit slushy as it had been quite warm the previous day. Ken had to drive a bit slower so we took a bit longer in getting to the US border. We arrived there at about 8:10am EST. We produced our passports and were asked all the usual questions. No problems and we were waved through with a hearty Enjoy your Vacation! NICE!!! We stopped to fill up on gas and use the washrooms and were back on the road by 8:30am (7:30CST)

Another Canadian tradition is border jumping for gas. American gas is taxed much lower so we save a good amount on a full tank. And it's duty free! So it is common for Canucks to cross the border on fumes and top up immediately.

The weather was still quite foggy but not as slushy or slippery on the U.S. Side. We did however get stuck for a bit behind a slow moving salt truck. A little while later, the weather changed again and it began to rain! After that, it turned to ice pellets and then a light snow! By the time we were half way to Duluth, it was a full fledged snowstorm!

I pride myself with good driving skills. I am nervous behind the wheel maybe 4 times a year. This was one of them.

No worries though! We did this drive last year in a snowstorm! So, we turned uo the tunes and rocked out to some of our favourite songs! Some of the songs on ur Travelling PlayList are Grace Kelly by Mika, Dancing Queen by Abba, Crazy Frog, and a host of others! Fun songs to keep us awake and alert! Good thing too cause Ken had to brake for some deer a few times!

Ken and I sipped at our coffee and the girls did their thing in the back seat! Ken and I had a good laugh together when one of our favourite Travel songs came on! We are HUGE Arrested Development fans! We LOVE the character G.O.B. Played by Will Arnet! He is hilarious!!! So when The Final Countdown by Europe came on we just about peed ourselves laughing while quoting G.O.B sayings from the show!!! For any of you who aren't familiar with the show WATCH IT!!!!! It is SO FUNNY!!!!

It helps that the kids favorite songs are the grown up ones. We all complain less when the music is good. And by good I mean mine. If they complain I turn up the music and tell them to be quiet.

We continued on, Ken driving, the girls playing so very nicely in the back and me alternately updating my Trip Journal and doing Sudoku puzzles! The weather became worse and we actually saw a couple of vehicles in ditches! SCARY!!

You forgot to mention the pickup truck we were sure would go in. It fishtailed twice at highway speed. Major bonus points to that driver for maintaining control.

We kept on chugging along and finally made it to Duluth and our lunch break! We pulled into the parking lot of Wendy's just as they were opening the restaurant! Just like last year! Do we have great timing or what!? It was exactly 10:30am CST!!

We got to the door and it was locked. I was sure it opened at 10 so I said loudly Oh you have GOT to be kidding me. The attendent who was just unlocking the door (whom I had failed to notice) was polite enough not to mention my rudeness.

Last year I made a royal fool of myself as well. For full account read here:

http://kenhorton.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-i-believe-in-drive-thru.html

We piled into the restaurant and ordered our food. The girls both had chicken nuggets, fries and lemonades. I had the Mandarin Chicken Salad and some water and Ken got some burgers! We ate our food, used the washrooms and then scooted across the road to get some coffee from one of Minnesota's finest coffee spots Dunn Bros. Coffee!!! very yummy! We were back on the highway to Minneapolis at 11:11am!

Yes, I am a coffee snob. I am used to Canadian Tim Hortons Coffee. Dunn Bros is an adequate suppliment though. Very good.

Continued in next post.........

Good start honey!

KathyRN137 · Feb 9, 2010

Hooray! Another Northern Family Report!!

Wow, Kim! It's a good thing that Ken has so much experience driving in the snow! I would have been a nervous wreck if I had to drive in that!

(Husbands can be so very useful)

Your girls have grown so much since the last trip... *sigh* Why do they do that?

Looking forward to more!

Kathy

Pluto_fan · Feb 9, 2010

Yea! We're underway! :drive:

A Snowbird meet--what a great way to start a trip! :wizard:

Monny2AE · Feb 9, 2010

Your TR is up and running!!!! Count me in!!!!

What a great start. Love Ken's take on it. :lmao:

That mall looks amazing! So glad you got to meet another Snowbird!

Waiting patiently for more... :bored:

vassar36 · Feb 9, 2010

Great start!! looking foward to hearing more!!!

Mndisneygirl · Feb 9, 2010

I'm here!!! Going back to read and sub!
YAY! I'm in your TR!!
I had to laugh so many times - I know the tunnel in that one picture! I can only imagine how rough that route can be in snow/sleet! The gas prices - we thought we had high gas tax here!
I loved meeting you guys! I know that our girls could spend hours together if we could do it. Maybe in summer?
Let me tell your readers - these are just the nicest people, and the girls are SO SWEET! Just the cutest little girls! (next to mine of course!)
HOORAY that Ken is putting in his comments - that man is TOO FUNNY! I'll bet I'm the only one who understood the curling references but for a couple Canucks reading! I've been loving watching TV lately with all the Olympic coverage starting - I get to hear more of that great Canadian accent that I love!

patches07 · Feb 9, 2010

looking foward to hearing more!!! :thumbsup2

Northern Disney Girl · Feb 9, 2010

mickey'sbff said:
not first, but 2nd! not too bad..... can't wait to hear about your trip

Welcome!

Thanks for coming out!

KathyRN137 said:
Hooray! Another Northern Family Report!!

Wow, Kim! It's a good thing that Ken has so much experience driving in the snow! I would have been a nervous wreck if I had to drive in that!

(Husbands can be so very useful)

Your girls have grown so much since the last trip... *sigh* Why do they do that?

Looking forward to more!

Kathy

Hey Kathy! :hug:

Thanks for coming over!

Ken is a fabulous driver, I am NEVER afraid when he is behind the wheel! Even in a snowstorm! :love:

Yes, the girls have grown! They tend to do that when you feed them!

Pluto_fan said:
Yea! We're underway!

A Snowbird meet--what a great way to start a trip!

Hey PlutoFan! Thanks for being here! How are the plans coming along for your trip to Disneyland Paris?

Monny2AE said:
Your TR is up and running!!!! Count me in!!!!

What a great start. Love Ken's take on it.

That mall looks amazing! So glad you got to meet another Snowbird!

Waiting patiently for more...

Hey Kimmy-Girl!!! :hug:

Yes, my husband is a funny, funny man! :love:

I shall do my very best to not keep you all waiting too terribly long in between chapters!

Yes, that Mall is amazing! I could spend days in there and still not get to every store! We are thinking of doing a long weekend there this summer and actually doing the amusement park stuff! :cool1:

vassar36 said:
Great start!! looking foward to hearing more!!!

Hey There! :goodvibes

Welcome! Thanks for coming to check us out! Hope you can stick around!

Mndisneygirl said:
I'm here!!! Going back to read and sub!
YAY! I'm in your TR!!
I had to laugh so many times - I know the tunnel in that one picture! I can only imagine how rough that route can be in snow/sleet! The gas prices - we thought we had high gas tax here!
I loved meeting you guys! I know that our girls could spend hours together if we could do it. Maybe in summer?
Let me tell your readers - these are just the nicest people, and the girls are SO SWEET! Just the cutest little girls! (next to mine of course!)
HOORAY that Ken is putting in his comments - that man is TOO FUNNY! I'll bet I'm the only one who understood the curling references but for a couple Canucks reading! I've been loving watching TV lately with all the Olympic coverage starting - I get to hear more of that great Canadian accent that I love!

Oh Sheree, you pert near made me shed a tear with those lovely words! :flower3:

Right back at ya sweetie!

We definitely WILL get together sometime this summer! We just HAVE to!

patches07 said:
looking foward to hearing more!!!

More will be coming up, hopefully sometime today! :goodvibes

cinderella crazy · Feb 9, 2010

Coffee stops, sudoku, ABBA, Wendy's and Disney...count me in! I'm going to go back and read your pre-trip report too. Can't wait to read more!

ixmnrs · Feb 9, 2010

Subscribing!

One look at the first photo en route and I knew I recognized that route from Thunder Bay towards Duluth. Used to go down that road all the time into Duluth and Minneapolis.

diznenut12 · Feb 9, 2010

I just signed on to you trip report. This is my first time ever responding to the dis boards. :thumbsup2

I enjoyed reading your PTR and looking forward to following your trip report

gellybean · Feb 9, 2010

I'm in! Love your writing style and your girls are so cute! I think it's awesome that your hubby comments on your TR! I may have to bug mine to contribute to ours. Wish me luck! :lmao:

Thats so cool that you got a Dis meet at Mall of America! Sounds like y'all are having a great trip so far! Hope the magic continues!

:goodvibes

Northern Disney Girl · Feb 9, 2010

cinderella crazy said:
Coffee stops, sudoku, ABBA, Wendy's and Disney...count me in! I'm going to go back and read your pre-trip report too. Can't wait to read more!

ixmnrs said:
Subscribing!

One look at the first photo en route and I knew I recognized that route from Thunder Bay towards Duluth. Used to go down that road all the time into Duluth and Minneapolis.

diznenut12 said:
I just signed on to you trip report. This is my first time ever responding to the dis boards. I enjoyed reading your PTR and looking forward to following your trip report

gellybean said:
I'm in! Love your writing style and your girls are so cute! I think it's awesome that your hubby comments on your TR! I may have to bug mine to contribute to ours. Wish me luck!

Thats so cool that you got a Dis meet at Mall of America! Sounds like y'all are having a great trip so far! Hope the magic continues!

A great big hearty Northern WELCOME to all of you!!! :cool1:

Thanks so much for joining us on this amazing adventure!!1 I can't wait to share all of the super fun magical details with all of you!!! :goodvibes

Lightsabers, Mouse Kisses and a Man in a Lucky Shirt! A January 2010 TR

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She passes time by singing, like someone else I kn

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Married to a Dis-Genius

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Mouseketeer

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Mouseketeer

Earning My Ears

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